My place in this world

 S: Numbers 1-2

2:2 “The Israelites are to camp around the tent of meeting some distance from it, each of them under their standard and holding the banners of their family.”

O: In these opening chapters of Numbers, God organizes the Israelites by tribe, assigning each group their place around the Tabernacle. Every individual is counted—none are forgotten. Each tribe has its standard, its place, and its role in the larger journey toward the Promised Land.

Even in something as seemingly mundane as a census and camp layout, we see that God is intentional. He gives structure, identity, and belonging to His people, with Himself at the center.

A: As I read this, I’m reminded that God has also placed me where I am on purpose.

He has placed me:

• In my family, as a husband and father,
• In MMU, as a professor, and advisor to MMU Christian Society,
• In Puchong, as part of a community,
• And in my CG and church, to walk alongside others in faith.

Like the Israelites, I have a “spot in the camp”—a calling and a responsibility. I want to live with intention, to be salt and light, and to reflect Jesus in each of these roles. I may not always feel like I’m doing something significant, but God doesn’t waste placements. Each role is sacred when lived for Him.

P: Father, thank You that You are a God of order, purpose, and love. You have placed me exactly where You want me to be in this season. Help me to serve faithfully as a husband, father, a mentor, a colleague, and a friend. Keep my eyes fixed on Jesus so I can reflect His light in every space I occupy. Use me to bless those around me. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Note: The ideas are mine, but I had ChatGPT help format and improve this SOAP.

MYOB

S: John 21

O: In the epilogue of the Gospel according to John, the beloved disciple is the first to recognize that the man on the shore is Jesus—perhaps because He repeats a familiar miracle: telling them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat after a night of catching nothing, leading to a miraculous haul.

We also witness the only time in Scripture where Jesus is recorded as cooking breakfast for the disciples—and it’s something we Malaysians might smile at: grilled fish, our very own ikan bakar! 😊

Then comes Jesus’ threefold restoration of Peter—three affirmations of love to match Peter’s three denials before the crucifixion.

But here’s what I want to focus on: Jesus tells Peter, “Feed my sheep... Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”

Peter then turns and sees “the disciple whom Jesus loved” following them. He asks, “Lord, what about him?”

Jesus replies, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.”

A: So often, we get caught up with comparing our walk with others’. But God’s call is individual: “You follow me.” He writes a different story for each of us. His plans for others may look more pleasant—or more difficult—than ours, but our task is to trust and follow Him faithfully.

In other words: MYOB—Mind Your Own Business. Or more precisely, mind your own walk with Jesus. This doesn’t mean we never speak into each other’s lives—we are still called to encourage one another to love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24), and to lovingly confront sin when needed (Luke 17:3–4). But first and foremost, we’re called to walk faithfully ourselves.

P: Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Note: I wrote this reflection, but had ChatGPT tidy it up a bit for me.

Doubting Thomas? More Than What Meets the Eye

S: John 20:24-31

²⁴ Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

²⁶ A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

²⁸ Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

²⁹ Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

³⁰ Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. ³¹ But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

O: We usually think of this incident when we think of Thomas. “Doubting Thomas,” he has been called through the centuries.

But remember—this twin (for that’s what “T’oma” means in Aramaic, reinforced by the Greek Didymus) was the one who earlier said in John 11:16, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” That’s not doubt—that’s devotion.

In fact, it is Thomas who utters one of the clearest and most powerful confessions of Jesus’ divinity in the whole Gospel: “My Lord and my God!”

Church history tells us that he eventually preached the Gospel in India, where he was martyred for his faith. The Mar Thoma Church and other ancient Indian Christian traditions honour him as their founder, and he’s still revered in Kerala and beyond.

So he was actually:

• Courageous Thomas – John 11:16
• Confessing Thomas – John 20:28
• Witness Thomas – Mission and martyrdom in India

Incidentally, verse 30 sounds like the end of the book… but wait, there’s more! See the next chapter for the epilogue.

A: Jesus said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” That’s us.
So, like Thomas—and like others after him who also believed without seeing (such as Nokseng, whom I discussed in my previous blog post)—let us courageously be Jesus’ witnesses, confessing him to the world.

P: Father, sometimes I am also a Doubting Ian. May I also be a Courageous Ian, a Confessing Ian, and a Witness Ian. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Note: I wrote most of these words, but took some formatting and phraseology improvements from ChatGPT. 

I have decided to follow Jesus

S: John 19:39-42

³⁸ Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. ³⁹ He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. ⁴⁰ Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. ⁴¹ At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. ⁴² Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

O: Sometimes we want to follow Jesus, but we are afraid, because of the people around us. We of course hear awesome dramatic testimonies about the people who stood up anyway, and are sometimes martyred for it, for example, the testimony of Nokseng, the Garo tribal man in Assam, India back in the 19^th century that was put into a song, often attributed to the 19^th Century Indian evangelist Sadhu Sundar Singh, but perhaps more likely it was Garo pastor Simon K. Marak who wrote the original Assamese song. Later, the song was translated into English, and popularised by Billy Graham. You know the song: I have decided to follow Jesus. 

But most of us don’t face such dramatic situations. Instead, many of us struggle quietly, like Joseph and Nicodemus. But this doesn’t mean that if you’ve let Jesus down like that, God can never use you again.

God used Joseph and Nicodemus, even in their cowardice. Jesus called Peter to feed his sheep, even after he denied him 3 times, restoring him with a 3-fold question-and-exhortation, “Do you love me? Feed my sheep.”

A: God is a god of second chances. If you’ve let Jesus down before, that’s not the end. Come back and stand up for Jesus!

P: Father, when I am afraid, give me courage to stand for You. In Jesus’ name, amen.